 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 15 - 21 April 1999 Issue No. 425 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
 |
 |
|
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 15 - 21 April 1999 Issue No. 425
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
|
|
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Partnership: year 2000
FOREIGN MINISTER Amr Moussa arrived in the German city of Stuttgart this week to take part in the foreign ministers' meeting of the Barcelona Process that brings together the countries of the European Union and those of the east and south Mediterranean.
A key issue on Moussa's agenda there is the Egypt-EU partnership that requires both sides' consent on a number of political and economic terms to allow for a reciprocal free trade treatment.
"Further negotiations are still needed on some aspects of the agricultural and political files. I don't realistically think that the final deal could be reached before the year 2000," an informed source told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Our point is that such an agreement will have so many implications for the Egyptian economy, so we better be very careful with every little detail; otherwise we might be making unwarranted compromises," the source added.
Negotiations between Egypt and the EU have been going on for four years. "This is not a very long time if one takes into consideration the increasingly widening scope of the Egyptian economy," said a source close to the negotiating team.
Also on Moussa's agenda in Stuttgart is the issue of political stability in the Mediterranean, which requires close security cooperation between the states of the Barcelona Process.
Issues of cultural exchange will also be on the event's agenda.
While in Stuttgart, Moussa was expected to hold a number of bilateral meetings with some of his counterparts, particularly French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, with whom he needs to discuss the recent developments in the peace process and the Iraqi crisis. The two issues were also to be discussed by Moussa with his Arab counterparts who are attending the meeting.
Foreign Ministry sources refused to confirm or deny the possibility of a meeting between Minister Moussa and his Israeli counterpart, Ariel Sharon. "If Sharon was to make it to Stuttgart, then they might meet, at least in the corridors; but then again they might not," one source said.
OIC umbrella
EGYPT has expressed willingness to send troops to participate in a peace-keeping mission that could be sent to Kosovo once a political deal is reached there between the ethnic Albanians and the Serbs. Egyptian forces would be part of an Organisation of the Islamic Conference's (OIC) contribution to an international peace-keeping force.
The decision was reached last week in Geneva at a meeting of an OIC contact group on the Kosovo crisis. Other countries participating in the meeting were Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Qatar.
Another outcome of the meeting was a tentative plan for an intensive diplomatic effort to be launched by the foreign ministers of the contact group and the OIC secretary-general. "The OIC Secretary-General Ezzeddin El-Iraqi and the foreign ministers of the contact group, or at least some of them, should be visiting the concerned parties to encourage a peaceful settlement of the crisis," one source told Al-Ahram Weekly. "But, of course, it all depends on how things are going to develop," the source added.
Foreign Minister Amr Moussa could not attend the meeting as he was accompanying President Hosni Mubarak on an Asian tour. Heading Egypt's delegation was Ambassador Mounir Zahran, Egypt's representative at the UN's Geneva headquarters.
It was also decided at the meeting that the OIC should help ease the plight of the Kosovo refugees in various countries by sending humanitarian aid and, possibly, financial aid as well.
Developments in Niger
EGYPT has expressed concern over last week's political developments in Niger that led to the killing of its president. In a statement issued this week, the foreign ministry "expressed sincere condolences for the passing away of the president [Ibrahim Mainassara]." The statement asserted Egypt's strong support for the people of Niger in their effort to maintain peace and stability and achieve development and prosperity.
Egyptian diplomatic sources refrained from making public a political evaluation of the developments in Niger. "We are not going to get into such internal affairs; we just hope that Niger will not be yet another spot for political disturbances in Africa," one source said.
No free zone with Israel
EGYPT is not prepared to enter into a free trade zone with Israel, even if another neighbouring Arab state was willing to be a third partner. Political developments in the region and the Israeli government's intransigence in the peace process would simply make it "impossible" for Egypt to go along this road.
That was the message clearly conveyed to a Peres Centre for Peace envoy who visited Cairo recently with the intention of re-promoting the idea of a free trade area that would bring together Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
Egyptian officials who met with the envoy declined to say whether Cairo would be willing to join such a project if the incumbent government was replaced by a Labour cabinet. "Our policy is very clear; we are not saying we are dealing with this or that party. We are dealing with 'the' Israeli government; and if any Israeli government is willing to make progress on the peace process, we will be willing to deal with it, irrespective of its partisan affiliation," an official source told Al-Ahram Weekly.
The source added, "This is something that we cannot compromise on. Egypt is an integral part of the Arab safety net; so, if other countries want to go ahead and have warmer economic relations with Israel, they can go ahead and do it, but Egypt cannot do what some other countries can do; it simply does not agree with our role and our political prestige."
Singer allowed back
LEBANESE singer Najwa Karam was allowed to enter Egypt on Sunday for a brief visit, after her name was removed from a list of unwanted visitors. Karam, who was denied entry last week, was reported to have insulted Islam and Egypt, but she quickly managed to clear her name.
Karam, a Christian, told journalists on arrival that she had decided to use her visit to Cairo, "the centre of art in the Arab world," to make clear that she could not harm either Islam or Egypt.
"I arrived in Egypt to reiterate my innocence of what had been attributed to me," she said.
